Portentous Crows
by Roseoptic
Summary: When you're the daughter of a ghost travel writer, it's really just a matter of time until you're moved to Amity Park. However, nobody said Lee Brown had accept the inevitable gracefully. A collection of moments told in no particular order about the life of Lee Brown.
1. Prompt 01

**Prompt 01: "That would be intimidating, if well, you were intimidating."** (WC: 1161)

A/N: Alternate title - In which Lee Brown manages to turn a funny encounter with the Box Ghost into a deep moment

 _If you've known someone's fear, you know them_

 _~ Victoria Aveyard, Red Queen_

* * *

Lee Brown blinked twice as the specter in front of her and absently noted that the amount of boxes floating in the air spoke to pretty good telekinesis.

The Box Ghost was used to ghosts not taking him seriously. Humans, however, at least screamed the first time they saw him. Whether out of surprise or the fact that they had just become aware that ghosts were a thing. This girl, however, was not reacting at all.

"I saw you." Lee told him.

The Box Ghost blinked and Lee wondered how Ghosts could be transparent and blink without their eyelids being transparent.

"But I was invisible!" He blubbered.

"I can see ghosts even if they're trying to hide."

The Box Ghost doesn't know how to begin to process that, so he reverted back as if the girl hadn't spoken at all. "I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE!"

It was Lee's turn to blink, "Yeah... that would be intimidating, if well, you were intimidating."

The Box Ghost deflated like a pin-pricked balloon. Nobody was ever intimidated by him and his boxes, and it was really eating at his ego. His once massively inflated ego was now about what would be considered normal, for someone who wasn't as pathetic as he was.

Lee, sensing that this ghost was more talk then action decided not to start swinging her iron cross that was dangling from her belt.

"Why boxes?" She asked.

The Box Ghost stared at her. Ghosts (and that one Ghost Boy) laughed at his boxes all the time. Nobody asked why he used them. The question wasn't even a veiled slight.

"Boxes are scary."

To Lee, and everyone else on the planet (and the Ghost Zone) boxes weren't scary. But to the Box Ghost they were.

"Why do you find boxes scary?" Lee asked, as if she were discussing the different reasons people found the dark scary or snakes, or the hundred other normal fears.

"Well, warehouses are eerie and warehouses filled with boxes. So boxes are scary."

It would have been easy to get caught up in the 'correlation does not prove causation' side of things, but Lee fixated on the word choice instead, "Eerie isn't scary, though," she pointed out.

The Box Ghost scratched his head, a weird motion for a ghost to make since ghosts couldn't feel itchy. "Things that kill you are scary, right?" He asked in a more subdued and serious tone.

Lee nodded her head and then put it together. That statement plus boxes, plus warehouses equalled...

"You were crushed to death by boxes, weren't you?"

The Box Ghost frowned and for a second Lee was worried she was going to have to pull out her iron cross after all (which would have been a shame since she was starting to feel emotional for this ghost). Then he calmed down and just nodded.

"I'm sorry." Lee told him, even though it didn't accomplish anything.

"My coworkers were trying to play a prank on our manager." He told her, "It went wrong and I..."

"Got crushed." Lee finished for him when it was clear the ghost wasn't going to.

"Yeah." The Box Ghost sounded like he hadn't ever thought about his death. Lee knew that it wasn't rare for ghosts not to remember dying or the things leading up to their death. It often took a few pointed questions to for them to remember. Sometimes it took more than that.

Lee observed the ghost carefully. Some ghosts didn't keep any sense of self after death. They were impossible to hold a conversation with and were more forces of nature (for good or ill) then anything. They were raw emotions embodied in supernatural force or stuck reliving a moment. But this ghost, the Box Ghost, had maintained his personality, and since he wasn't hostile, Lee could ask, "Why try so hard to scare people?"

Usually it was obvious, Lee could admit. But the Box Ghost seemed nice enough and was so weak willed that Lee only had to be polite, talkative, and unaffected to get him to give up trying to crush her to death. Lee had the feeling the Box Ghost wouldn't have even killed her if he could.

"I wasn't ever scary when I was alive. They didn't even let me in on the prank because they said I would muck it up. I did anyway."

The boxes he had been threatening her with floated to the ground, and at some point Lee had sat down on one of the heavier boxes to listen.

"So I thought... now that I'm dead and a ghost... I ought to scare someone."

Ghosts got fixated, usually with events or objects that surrounded their death. Crushed to death in a prank gone wrong totally fit with the Box Ghost's persona.

"Why surround yourself with reminders of how you died?" Lee asked. She knew that he hadn't realized until just now how the boxes fit in with his death, but she was trying to lead him to a conclusion that fit her own goals.

"At first I was scared of them, and I was trying to scare people." The Box Ghost explained, "But now... I like boxes and the things inside them."

He liked them because of they had a piece of humanity. That was sort of touching. Lee was used to ghostly explanations being more gruesome or macabre at best, and that answer gave Lee just enough information about how the Box Ghost thought for her next move.

"You know, some of the boxes could have killed me." She pointed out.

The Box Ghost hovered anxiously, frowning.

"I know this place, it's filled with boxes. Nobody goes there but teens when they sneak drinks illegally." The Box Ghost looked confused, but Lee didn't have time to explain that the drinking age had moved since he died, "You can live there if you like."

The Box Ghost grinned, "Filled with boxes?"

Lee nodded, "But if I show you this place, you have to promise not use those boxes to try to scare anyone. You don't want to accidently kill someone, do you?"

The Box Ghost shook his head.

"Besides, those boxes have things in them that could break if you fling them around."

The Box Ghost nodded.

"Can I take these boxes with me?"

"No, those boxes are filled with school supplies. The students need them."

The Box Ghost pouted (of all things) but agreed.

Lee had him wait there until school ended, then she showed him the warehouse. She didn't hear anything about the Box Ghost from anyone in town again, though she made it a priority to visit the Box Ghost once a week if she could. Humans went crazy from isolation, Lee had a theory that the concept still held even if the human was in incorporeal form. It explained why ghosts were always such nutters.

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	2. Prompt 02

**Prompt 02: "I take very enthusiastic walks"** (WC:514)

A/N: Alternate title - Lee Brown tries to bullshit her way out of a situation but Danny Fenton is having none of it.

 _"We're all guilty of hiding things - it's the nature of the world_ _today._

 _We hide our feelings, we hide our feeling, we hide our pasts, we hide our_ _true_

 _intentions. There's no way to know what's real anymore."_

 _~ Suzanne Young, The Treatment_

* * *

Lee Brown prided herself on the fact that in her half a decade of ghost seeing powers nobody alive had ever figured it out. She lived _in_ a haunted house with a man that was actively seeking proof of ghosts, in the most haunted city in America and her secret had not leaked to even one living person. That record came to a screeching halt at age 15, in the form of Danny Fenton.

"What did you just do?"

Lee looked away from the spot where a ghost had been standing before she had pummeled it with her iron cross. It dissipated and that ecto-energy would come back together and form the ghost again relatively soon. Lee wanted to have put distance between her and this alley before that happened, but now there was a confused Danny Fenton confronting her.

Lee guessed it didn't matter. If it reformed and realized that there were two of them instead of just one easy-prey girl, it would flee. Still, this was not a conversation she wanted to have. It wasn't exactly a revel of her abilities, but it spoke to a familiarity and ease with dealing with ghosts that would lead to questions. There went her spotless record.

What in God's green earth was _Danny Fenton_ doing walking around Amity Park at night, anyway? At least Lee had a reason (though she would lie if asked). She had been visiting the Box Ghost who had introduced her to another ghost who needed some therapy (it was a serious shame none of this could ever end up on her resume without some serious lying). The whole event had snowballed, ending with Lee walking home way later then she intended.

"I don't do things." Was her clever reply. Okay, it wasn't clever, but she was panicking, even if it wasn't showing at all. Right after seeing ghosts, Lee counted her poker face as a supernatural ability. Unfortunately the poker face was only skin deep.

Danny stared at her in incredulous disbelief, "You just hit a ghost with a cross and it vanished!"

Lee considered her options of reply and decided that she had started down the path of snarky and obstinately lying in the face of truth so she might as well stick to it, "I take walks." She replied, as if that was enough of an explanation.

"You call that a walk?" Danny's voice rose an octave and cracked at the same time. It wasn't a pretty sound. In some ways girls got off puberty easy. Though Lee would take her voice cracking over having a period any day.

"I take very enthusiastic walks." Lee clarified with obvious false cheer. Her tone signaled that the conversation was over. She walked past Danny, out of the alley, "Be careful, Danny," She warned with false cheer, looking at him over her shoulder, "Amity seems rather dangerous at night."

And she strolled on her way. Danny gapping and too surprised to respond.

* * *

A/N: Hahaha, yes I did borrow a quote from Hellsing Abridged. It's too good a line to just leave. Sue me. Haha, nice try. You can't, because I'm not making any money off this! Annnyway, please review. They make my day. Also favoriting and following is also nice. But reviews are the best.


	3. Prompt 03

**Prompt 03: "It suddenly reeks of hypocrisy in here."** (WC: 1159)

A/N: Alternate Title - In which the devil and angel on Lee's shoulders battle it out and the devil wins

 _"I've always thought you should concentrate on paddling your own canoe"_

 _~ John Dos Passos, The Art of Fiction No. 44_

* * *

Lee Brown always thought she was more intelligent than her peers. She had to be just to survive. So, it was a little humbling to be confronted with something so obvious but had skated by right under her nose: Danny Fenton was Phantom - the Ghost Kid or whatever they were calling him.

He wasn't even wearing a mask! Lee had just seen the ghost powers, the ghost form (how was that even possible?!), and recoloring and just had processed it as a ghost (if it looks like a ghost, talks like a ghost, acts like a ghost...). And ghosts _aren't_ human and Danny Fenton _was_ human - because Lee Brown knew nothing if not ghosts (though apparently not anymore). So they couldn't be the same person, even if they shared a similar body shape and face (for Heaven's sake, how had she missed it?!).

And now the evidence was staring her in the face, literally. Danny Fenton was literally staring at her (or gaping technically). He had reverted back into his 'human' form right in front of her. It was his fault really. He was the one who didn't look before he changed forms. This spot was a popular spot for kids to smoke or to hide from bullies. Lee favored it because since she had crossed Paulina the library was no longer the safe haven it once had been.

Lee broke the silence first. "You're the ghost boy!?"

"You hid the fact that you fight ghosts!" Danny counter-accused - or just accused because stating a fact is not an accusation.

"I don't fight ghosts. I'm capable of fighting them." Lee clarified blandly, unamused.

"You're hiding more than that!"

"It suddenly reeks of hypocrisy in here." Lee quipped, waving her hand in front of her nose for effect. Seriously, the boy who was literally hiding the fact that he was a paradox was criticizing her for being secretive?

Lee was being secretive sure. She was proud of herself even. She had managed to keep so much from a ghost-human (seriously, she's going to go into an existential crisis if she doesn't get an explanation for that soon). He had a huge advantage in figuring it out. A double identity that Lee wasn't aware off, not to mention actual _super powers_. She had him in the dark when she was in the dark herself and was considerably less powerful. She was surprised by her own talent (not luck, because luck didn't exist). It was possibly that he was feigning ignorance to get more out of her, but Lee doubted it. Danny seemed incapable of not being confrontational.

Danny turned red with what Lee assumed to be anger. She wasn't the best at reading people, but with Danny it seemed to always be anger.

"It's none of my business." Lee announced randomly and suddenly, stopping whatever anxiety filled rant Danny was about to launch on. Lee knew how she would feel if someone discovered her secret and what she would be worried about.

"What?" Danny asked, flabbergasted.

"It's none of my business who or what you are." Lee clarified, emphasizing the 'what' because seriously, what the hell was he? "If I found out you were dressing in drag -" Danny blushed at the very idea, which proved her theory that all males are totally insecure in their sexuality, "- it wouldn't be my business. This isn't much different."

It is. It totally is different. This was shattering her world apart, but Lee wasn't going to say anything about that.

"You're not going to say anything?"

"To who?" Lee responded. It was rather obvious that she didn't have anyone she considered a friend. Acquaintances, she had, but no real friends. Friends noticed odd behavior and wanted to come over to the house, Lee wanted to avoid both of those things.

"You could get popular though."

"For being a rat?" Lee snarked, rolling her eyes, "And I wouldn't. You'd become famous or infamous, and I'd be overshadowed by that and eventually forgotten." She pointed out. There was also the fact that the last thing Lee wanted was to be popular. Popularity meant people paying attention, which Lee went out of her way to avoid.

"Leave me alone though," Lee said, realizing an opportunity she had. If she went after it, there would most likely be no explanation for how Danny was what he was (could he just be a ghost who was good at faking being human? She really hoped so. That was less world destroying). However, if it worked she would be better off - still going through an existential crisis, but better off.

"What?" Danny asked, thrown by the shift in Lee's demeanor, "You said you wouldn't tell."

"I have no desire to tell," Lee clarified in an agreeable tone, "But you've been following me around snooping in two different personas." She pointed out, "I want that to stop."

"You're admitting you have something to hide." Danny sneered. Lee's blackmailing him seemed to confirm whatever negative thoughts or theories Danny had about her, but Lee just didn't care.

"No, I'm just a teenager who would like the half-human half-ghost to stop stalking her." Lee denied putting the emphasis on 'stalker'.

Danny blushed, as he mentally put his actions in the frame of "stalker". In that frame, his actions did look creepy and obsessive. It wasn't what he was doing, and Lee knew it (well it was stalking, but stalking with a valid goal), but that wasn't the picture she wanted to paint. She wanted Danny to think she was a girl with granted, nerves of steel, but just a normal girl. And she wanted him to stop following her around until he found evidence to the contrary.

"Fine." Danny spat, having no choice but to agree.

This was blackmail (no technicality about it). Lee knew that. Danny, probably, knew that as well. However, there wasn't anything Danny could do about it. If he tried to go to the authorities, they'd want to know what the blackmail was. He was trapped and he knew it and he knew that Lee knew it.

"Good." Lee said with a false smile that didn't fit how she was feeling at all, "Then this has been a pleasant last conversation, Mr. Fenton."

And she strolled back inside like she didn't have a care in the world. Sure she spent the next 15 minutes in the girl's bathroom obsessing and slightly freaking out over how something like Danny Fenton could exist, but even without a much needed explanation she was better off. She had dealt with the threat that was Danny Fenton smoothly and effectively. She had worked off the cuff, in her opinion, flawlessly. She should be feeling proud of herself and relieved. She didn't though. Lee was sure the pride and relief would come. The niggling feeling of guilt never managed to stay with her long.

* * *

A/N: Come on you guys, throw me a _bone._ Please review, fave, and follow.


	4. Prompt 04

**Prompt 04: "Prepared and ready, except I'm neither one of those." (WC: 1605)**

A/N: Alternate Title - In which Danny and Lee reluctantly work together

blackcat711: I'm so glad you're liking this story! You've got some foresight with your suggestion. Something like that will be happening in the future. ;)

ChillyIce: I'm glad you're liking the story. There will be a lot exploration of different facets of DP characters along with some new ones.

* * *

The plan had been to never speak to Danny Fenton again. Blackmail and the amount of exposed and unexposed secrets that hung between them had soured any chance at a friendship. Lee hadn't counted on them both ending up at the same shitty lake party.

Lee Brown didn't do parties. She especially didn't do parties that involved being dependent on someone else for travel and/or parties that had the presence alcohol. However, Lee owed Mike Parker a favor and the asshole had cashed it in for a date (which really ought to have been predictable for a male. Lee herself would have picked something more useful). She had agreed to the date only because going to this popular kid party might actually lessen the amount of bullying she received and because turning Mike down would probably just cause a stir she didn't want to deal with. As long as he kept his hands mostly to himself (since she had to be realistic), Lee was marginally okay with the repayment. She was never going to ask Mike or any other male to cover for her again, but she was okay with the repayment.

Danny, as far as Lee could tell, was here with Paulina. Not because Paulina had suddenly seen what a catch Danny was, but to make Dash jealous. Danny had been picked over the other hoard of boys clamoring to be used because he had a car, the Fenton-mobile (and Lee would have bet money he didn't have permission to use it). Dany also had his relationship as Dash's favorite victim in his "favor".

As far as Lee could tell, the poor boy had deluded himself into thinking that Paulina actually wanted him. At least had the good sense not to let anyone talk him out of driving the van(?) that had brought them all up to the lake, that would have resulted in someone crashing the thing and the whole party being trapped out by the lake (and Danny's untimely death at the hands of his parents when they found out).

Danny's ignorant bliss hadn't lasted long, however. He had figured out what Paulina's game was soon enough and had spent a good portion of the evening glaring at the fire, only a log over from where Lee was while she tried to zone out during Mike's long explanation of the nuances of football. The whole thing was in bad taste in Lee's opinion, but necking in perfect view of the clearly distraught teen was pushing it. If Lee was a better person, she might have even said something to them about it, but she wasn't, so she didn't.

Of course, a handful of kids hanging out at a party on the outskirts of town when alcohol and teenage "romance" (read: ungraceful groping) were involved reeked very heavily of classic horror movie material, and because this was Amity Park (or the outskirts at least) the moment had to fulfill itself. A crazy, clearly ectoplasmic based, man with a hook had come howling out of the water at them (somehow covered in seaweed - was it ghost seaweed?) and like idiots the kids scattered like marbles.

Thanks to Mike, Lee was caught up in the fleeing as well, which was how Lee who had sworn to avoid Danny Fenton like the plague, had ended up pinned against a tree by the boy while they were being stalked through the forest by the ghost of some hook-wielding pirate.

Danny had managed to separate them from the others (which Lee still hadn't decided if that was a good or bad) and his hand firmly planted over her mouth. Adrenaline made Lee hyper aware. She was aware of how cool Danny's skin was, how his breath felt against her face and neck, the feeling of his sandy and damp clothing against her (unfortunately) rather exposed skin, the frantic footfalls of the other teenagers growing more and more distant with each passing second, and the sound of metal against wood as their purser scrapped his hook against the trees as he searched the woods.

One thought kept repeating itself over in her head, "I'm going to die. I'm going to die."

Her self control wasn't even enough to keep her in place. Danny had to press tighter against her to hold her still and quiet. A few frantic seconds of muffled struggling and the frantic thought passed, giving way cool dread but some clarity of mind. No matter how used to supernatural and life or death situations Lee was, she could never quite get over the initial blind panic. But she managed to come back to herself and she stilled in Danny's grasp.

The sound of metal against wood grew fainter and fainter. Hiding from a ghost would have been pointless if the ghost in question didn't have multiple targets. After a few painfully silent moments of waiting for the fake out to revel itself, Danny removed his hand from Lee's mouth.

A faint blush covered his cheeks as he realized how closely they had been and he backed up, giving Lee her space. They stared silently at each other, both struggling with their own internal issues.

"Why did you grab me?" was the first thing Lee asked, her voice hushed. She had thousands of questions, but very few that were important or that Danny could answer. 'why me' being the front-runner in her pointless questions list.

Danny stared at her. He had expected a more violent reaction from the surly teen, "I'm not sure..." he reluctantly admitted.

Lee didn't know that it was a habit of his to work with Sam and Tucker. When the ectoplasm hit the fan, they stuck together. They aren't there of course, but she was, and she knew what they did. Danny had instinctively used her to fill their role, but she didn't know that and Danny wasn't self aware enough to know it either.

"The Fenton-Thermos is the van." Danny told her, as if she had any idea what that was.

Since they were away from the prying eyes of the other teens and the maniac ghost could appear at any second, both of them ran back towards the van disregarding stealth. As they ran, Danny explained just what exactly the Fenton-Thermos was.

Lee was struck by the unfairness of it all. Her life would have been so much easier if she had the luxury of ghost catching technology.

"That's convenient." was all she said, not revealing just how much she's dealt with ghosts.

"Luxury of living with ghost hunters." Danny said with a cheer and calmness that was more real than Lee's false composure as he stuck his hand through the lock of the Fenton-mobile not bothering with the keys in his pocket.

His real composure spoke to how often he had handled these situations before. To be fair, Lee has had her own numerous encounters as well. However, as Danny rushed them into the Fenton-mobile and Lee has an opportunity to look at the ghost hunting technology in actual detail, she realized that Danny and her were never going to be on equal footing. She would always just be a human dealing with things far outside her realm of power and control. Danny was part of that realm (and it really wasn't fair).

While Danny searched for the Fenton-thermos that he had hidden (Lee was just glad that he had brought it at all), Lee had her own priorities, namely proper clothing. Amity Park might have turned her life into a horror movie, but she wasn't about to go ghost fighting in a bathing suit. If her life had to be a horror movie, it was going to be classier than that. She yanked on her pants, throwing off her cover up rather than stuffing it back into her backpack. They didn't have time for Lee to be neat. The only thing Lee took the time to do was double check that the iron cross was still attached to her pant's belt.

Danny turned around and turned bright red, "Geez, Lee warn a guy!" He said, spinning right back around.

"I was wearing a _see through_ cover up," Lee pointed out as she fixed her belt around her waist, "Besides it's just a swimming suit."

Danny made a strangled noise of disagreement.

"You know, most guys would be thrilled that I gave them an excuse to peak."

Danny made a louder strangled noise that pulled a smirk to Lee's lips. Ghost hunting was a lot less stressful when you had someone at your side to mock.

"Alright, alright. I'm dressed. You can turn around now."

Danny did so, and though pink lingered on his cheeks, he plowed ahead like he hadn't just caught her putting on pants. He shook the Fenton-thermos pointedly, "Let's go catch us a crazy hook wielding lunatic."

"Incorporeal," Lee threw in, throwing herself head long into the insanity of making light about hunting a ghost that was actively trying to kill them.

Danny smiled seeing Lee lose the last traces of the intense fear that she had been harboring since the ghost appeared. It had been unexpected from the usually very composed teen, and had been disturbing to witness.

" _Incorporeal_ hook wielding lunatic," he agreed with a sagely nod of his head.

"I'm going ghost!" He announced and then he wasn't Danny anymore.

Lee had to laugh at the situation, because if she doesn't she was pretty sure she'll have a break down. Nothing about this is normal. Not even by her definition of the word, "Prepared and ready!" She laughed, "Except I'm neither one of those."

'Not Danny' gave her a grin and flew through the van. Lee followed him out the door, and nearly got decapitated.

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	5. Prompt 05

**Prompt 05: "He's like the drunken master of hacky-sack" (WC: 1787)**

A/N: Drown in the feels my pretties! Drown! Muhahahaha!

 _Chilly Ice_ : I'm glad you liked the last chapter! There were _several_ rewrites of that chapter before I finally decided on the final one.

 _Her heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high._

 _~ William Goldman, The Princess Bride_

* * *

Not every interaction between Lee and Danny was ghost related. The tension between them after the blackmail incident was still present (and probably wouldn't ever leave until Lee took it back - and maybe not even then) but the tension was less obvious after the lake incident. They trusted each other a little more, even if they refused to talked about. Lee didn't ask about how he was so calm during the whole affair. Danny didn't ask about her level of unnatural competence. It's an uneasy and unspoken truce, but it's a truce all the same.

But not every interaction between Lee and Danny was ghost related. Today, Lee was hiding out in one of the popular teen hang out spots, the back of the Nasty Burger, which _is_ in fact nastier then the inside. Even though the hours were steadily slipping by, Lee couldn't bring herself to go home. She doesn't want to face a house were everything was creepy and abnormal (so is the entire town, but Lee can't escape a whole entire town, not when she's only 15). More than the abnormality had steadily taken over Lee's life, Lee didn't want to face her father. Her father who probably didn't even realize Lee was considerably past late.

She wasn't alone. There are two kids with her who were getting drunk and not bothering to hide it. Why they had decided to get drunk behind a Nasty Burger was anyone's guess. Lee didn't ask. It was also a mystery why they hadn't been reported by the staff or a concerned customer. They offered her a drink but Lee declined.

Lee knew she'd get in trouble if they're caught (even if she isn't drinking) but Lee just didn't care. She didn't want to go inside the Nasty Burger and she didn't want to go home. She didn't want to do anything. Apathy was becoming a strange new fixture her life.

Out of nowhere, Danny showed up. He must have been on ghost patrol and spotted her - Lee stood corrected, all of their interactions have to do with ghosts because they can't have one normal thing in their lives.

"Aren't you out late, Lee?"

The two increasingly drunk teens who are her companions looked at him and wrinkled their noses at him. "Are you her boyfriend or her dad?" They mocked.

Danny blushed. Lee rolled her eyes. "Neither." she answered for him.

They're satisfied with that and go back to what they were trying to do. Or rather, the taller one, Toni, was trying to one person hacky-sack, which was a comical endevor since he was a little passed tipsy, Dora was just cheering him on beyond long sips a can that's been marked up with a sharpie in a bad attempt to hide what it really is.

"What are you doing?" Danny asked, moving over to where Lee was sitting on a dumpster lid. (Lee thought that it might be a misdemeanor but she's committed so many that it barely registered)

"Watching Toni. He's like the drunken master of hack-sack," she told him in a light tone, trying to play off how depressing she looked. She tried to paint a funny and quirky picture (apparently she has started lying to herself).

"Except actually drunk and not really a master." Danny retorted as Toni somehow managed to trip.

He spent the next several seconds trying not to fall. Even after he caught himself he continued to act like he was falling. Lee wasn't sure if it was to amuse Dora (who was laughing loudly at his antics) or because he hadn't realized he had caught himself.

"Yes, exactly," Lee replied in a sage like tone.

"Do you want me to walk you home?"

Lee frowned. For a second Lee pictured her father angry, and yelling at her for showing up late and with a boy no less, but those moments belonged in sitcoms she indulged in. Lee knew that her father wouldn't notice and if by a miracle he did, he wouldn't care.

"Wasn't really planning on going home." She told him, once she had shaken her daydreams away. She was telling the truth, or at least partly. Lee hadn't made any plans, but she knew herself well enough that sometime - probably when Toni and Dora stumbled off for home - she would end up at the Box Ghost's abandoned warehouse. This was hardly the first time Lee had been reluctant to go home.

Danny didn't like her answer, and there's a concern in his eyes that makes Lee uncomfortable.

"Planning on coming home with us?" Dora slurred, breaking the heavy tension. She tried to bat her eyelashes seductively at Lee, but it just came across as heavy blinking.

"Oh definitely," Lee replied sarcastically, causing the drunk girl to laugh loudly. But before Dora can even start a reply, Toni began to flail again and Dora was sucked back to watching her boyfriend behave like a baboon.

Lee turned to look at Danny who was reflecting a mixture of disgust, concern, and embarrassment.

Lee arched her eyebrows, "I wasn't really consenting to a threesome." She informed him blandly, causing the boy to go red.

"You really should go home, or somewhere." He spluttered after a few awkward seconds.

A biting remark about how they aren't friends danced on the tip of Lee's tongue but Toni fell over cursing and kicking the ground. When he hurt himself kicking the concrete, he began to swear even louder. Lee lost her train of thought.

"Yeah probably," she agreed, sliding off the dumpster.

She can see the turn the two drunks are taking and though it would probably all turn out fine since they seemed like nice people, Lee just didn't want to deal with it.

"You want me to call someone for you?" She asked Dora, getting ready to go off with Danny.

Dora eyed the closing space between Danny and Lee and when the implication (that Lee is leaving) clicked, she began to pout. Danny set his hand on Lee's shoulder like Dora (who is granted much taller than Lee) was going grab her and run off with her.

"Nah, I live within walking distance and Toni can crash at place. The 'rents are gone." Dora grinned. "You're welcome to join us." Dora offered flirtatiously but also with a degree of sincerity - and not about the threesome (or at least Lee doesn't think so) but about crashing at her place, "Beanpole too," Dora extended grudgingly.

"Nah, I'm walking her home." Danny rejected the offer quickly, not giving Lee a chance to reply. Then he was tugging her away by her shoulder.

Lee let him, half amused by his protectiveness. Toni and Dora went to their school, they weren't going to do anything to her, and even if they tried, in their inhibited state Lee could take them. Lee could probably take them even if they were in their right facilities. She doesn't have a physical advantage, but she's clever and knew things she shouldn't.

The two of them left the Nasty Burger and Toni and Dora behind, walking down the dark and mostly empty streets. Amity Park didn't have much of a nightlife.

"What's the matter, Lee?" He asked after Dora and Toni were no longer in sight.

"Why did you stop by?" Lee countered.

Danny floundered for a second."I just saw you sitting there and I thought..."

Lee's eyes narrowed, "Is this an excuse to stalk me?" She asked. She was immediately suspicious of Danny's intentions, because people just don't get concerned about her, not her dad, not her classmates or her teachers, not the ghosts she spent so much time with - other than maybe the Box Ghost and that was just physical safety.

"I can't be worried about you without an ulterior motive?" Danny demanded, getting angry. He always was easy to get angry and never thought before he spoke or acted and Lee was always vaguely frustrated and suspicious and never above manipulating people.

"Why would you be?" She demanded right back, "We're not friends. You're just suspicious of me."

"You're suspicious!"

"So you admit it!"

"NO!" Danny yelled, "I thought you were in trouble. I was trying to help! I'm the good guy. Why can't you see that?!"

Lee scoffed, "And what does that make me? A villain? Listen, I don't need Mr. Trouble Bringer worried about me." She dismissed. "I'm fine. And I can handle myself!"

"Well, sorry!"

"Good!"

"Great!"

Lee stormed off and Danny didn't follow. He just watched her leave before ducking around a corner, 'going ghost' and flying home.

It only took about an hour for Danny to regret letting Lee storm off. He has no idea where she'll go or what she'll do. It's too late to go looking for her, and if his parents caught him out this late Danny had no idea what he'd say. Even if he went, Danny doubted he'd find her. He rarely found Lee when he was looking. It was always on accident or coincidence that he stumbled up on her.

So Danny spent the night, tossing and turning worried about Lee and blaming himself. Eventually he fell into an uneasy sleep. The unease didn't disappear in his sleep. In the morning he's on pins and needles just as much as he had been during the night. The stress that was winding into a tight knot in his stomach didn't evaporate or stop growing until he spotted Lee in one of their shared classes.

This gut wasn't left empty though. It was immediately replaced by guilt. Because Lee looks like a mess. Her hair doesn't look like it's been brushed, and there are dark circles under her eyes that speak to a night more restless than his own. The fact that she's wearing the same clothing as she was yesterday told Danny very plainly that Lee hadn't gone home.

Self-loathing joined the guilt. Anything could have happened to her during the night - supernatural or otherwise - and it would have been his fault. His fault because he _had_ her walking home. Whatever was wrong that had Lee reluctant to go home had her lashing out - something Danny was no stranger too. But instead of toughing through the words that Danny _now_ realized were aimed to spin him up and get him to leave, he had let her manipulate him. He had given into his anger and left him. Maybe he _hadn't_ been truthful when he told Lee he was a hero. He sure didn't feel like one now.

* * *

Please review, favorite, and follow!


	6. Prompt 06

**Prompt 06: "I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it!" (WC: 586)**

A/N: Alternate title - In which Lee is manipulative and Tucker is gullible

 _ChillyIce -_ Yeah that is a big aspect of Danny's character that is going to keep showing up. He's very black and white but Lee exists mostly in the grey. Haha, I'm glad you like them together! It's going to be a long rocky road for the two of them.

 _"True friendship ought never to conceal what it thinks."_

 _~ St. Jerome_

* * *

There was a new exhibit in Amity Park's museum of ancient history, and because it was in Amity Park, of course it was cursed. Lee always kept a sharp eye out on new museum exhibits. She had learned her lesson ago when she encountered her first haunted museum exhibit during a _lock in._ The exhibit hadn't even been fully moved into the museum and Lee had already been elbow deep in research.

The exhibit was haunted. It was so haunted that had the exhibit's third stop not been Amity Park, some other hunter would have dealt with it (Lee was more than a little sore about her misfortune). Lee was skeptical about some legends about haunted museum exhibits, especially Egyptian exhibits (which were only ever haunted in every movie ever and not real life), but the legends about this _Chinese_ exhibit were too detailed and too numerous (so early on) for Lee to not take them seriously. Still, Lee went to the exhibit just to be sure and ended up out seven dollars, in need of some eyedrops, but with a confirmation. The thing was so haunted it had been searing to her eyes.

Of course, that meant that Lee was going to have to get in and do a cleansing before something happened. These things tended to slowly escalate as the curse or haunt grew in power, so every day she waited the bigger the problem grew. Not only did she have little time to prepare, but she couldn't even spend the time she had preparing. Because the exhibit was new, the supernatural community was silent on information about it. Lee was going in mostly blind. It was in her territory though, and therefore her responsibility.

So she needed a plan to get into the museum and she needed allies - or an ally. That was why she had confronted Tucker in one of the few moments he was away from his friends, after IT club.

"So, you're saying there's a ghost in the new China exhibit?" Tucker asked.

Historically speaking lying to get allies was a very effective strategy. There _might_ been a ghost, Lee didn't know, she hadn't seen it but it could have been hiding. A curse didn't always mean there was a ghost present, but it didn't mean there wasn't. Tucker didn't know that curses were a thing - as far as Lee knew. He, Danny, and Sam seemed to exclusively deal with ghosts.

"And you just need me to turn off the alarm system so you can get in and then turn it back on?"

There was the truth bit that made her lies so effective.

"Basically."

"Why don't you just tell Danny and let him handle it?"

Internally Lee scowled, externally she just shrugged, "Honestly, it's not really something that he needs to bother with," she half lied, "I have it covered and doesn't he have a big test?" In truth, Lee didn't want Danny involved because it would involve revealing things about herself that she didn't want him to know, and honestly, she was sure she could handle it.

Tucker bit his lip.

"His grades are slipping aren't they?" She asked with concern that sounded so genuine she almost bought it, "We can handle this. You won't be in any danger, you won't even be on site."

"What about you?"

Lee shrugged, "Honestly, I've dealt with worse. The two of us can handle it. I just need you."

Tucker gave her a flirty grin at that confession, "Well I like this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it!"

Hook. Line. Sinker.

* * *

Annnnd we git a little bit of world building here. Yay!

Remember reviews make the author's day are a big motivation to continue!


	7. Prompt 07

**Prompt 07: "MISTAKES WERE MADE!" a.k.a "I love this plan!" part 2** (WC: 1173)

A/N: Alternate Title - In which Lee and Tucker fuck up.

 _blackcat711 -_ There isn't a whole lot of interaction here buuuut I think that it's quality over quantity, hopefully? Glad you liked it though.

 _AJPJweallluvJJ -_ Glad you like Lee! There's an explanation about '52 Pick Up' in my profile actually. Long story short, I will be returning to it. Just not right now because of some personal reasons.

 _coraluna -_ My God you poor thing, the heat is real. Yeah I ended up dorking around on the internet and stumbled onto the Danny Phantom fandom, which is surprisingly alive and well! And I was like hmm... and then.. and this took over my life. I'm glad you like Lee. I will be taking a lot of liberties with the world building because I always felt like the supernatural elements were sort of glossed over.

* * *

By working with Tucker, Lee learned two things. First, to never to put her trust into a fully electronic alarm system. Two, that Tucker was a genius. Enough of a genius that Lee made a mental note to keep on his good side in case she needed his skills again.

Needless to say, he got her into the museum with absolutely no trouble. He didn't stop at just getting her in and leaving her to it. He kept them on mics, with bluetooth earbuds that Lee hoped nothing happened to because she wasn't sure she could replace it for him. He offered to hack the cameras for her, but she quickly dissuaded him of that, telling him he didn't have to put that much work in. He listened, thankfully, which saved Lee from a messy explanation. Explaining to Tucker that cleansing was a thing that actually worked when he only dealt with science fiction ghost fighting gear would have been annoying - and that was half of the secret she was keeping. Lee wasn't about telling people things that they didn't absolutely need to know, and it had worked thus far.

The instant Lee walked into the Chinese exhibit, she could tell that the very _air_ felt wrong. The room glowed with the unnatural aura that only Lee seemed to be able to see whenever there was something unnatural about. The glare was so bad, that even though it was the middle of the night, Lee was investing in sunglasses. They didn't really work, it was more of a placebo affect then anything, but she would take it over nothing.

To say it put Lee on edge was understatement. She didn't waste any time immediately getting to work. She had carefully prepared everything she needed for the cleansing earlier that day. All she had to do was dig through her bag for the white stage bushel she had stored with in.

A cleansing ceremony wasn't anything complicated. All it required was Lee to walk around the room, making sure she walked counterclockwise and hit the four corners of the room. Lee had no idea _why_ it worked. She had always assumed that magic was just a thing that existed. It wasn't until Amity Park and Danny were introduced into her life that she had ever considered _science_ might play a role in the supernatural. Since she didn't have the tools or the knowledge to go into the realm she stayed in the more occult and magical realm she was accustomed to and _tried_ not to question how they could coexist.

She muted the mic (she'd claim technology incompetence later when Tucker asked about it) and began running through a few chants. Cleansing wasn't an exact science (she hadn't know that was even an option after all) there isn't one right way to do it and Lee was pretty sure that it somehow operated under belief (though if you walk in with just faith, you'd probably just get your intestines acquainted with the open air). So because Lee wasn't sure what would work she began to run through chants that she knew in various languages, starting with English.

The bright aura of the room didn't dim at all. So she moved on to the next language she thought would work, Chinese. She barely gets out a word before Tucker is screaming in her ear.

"Mistakes were made!"

Lee flipped on her mic, cutting off in mid chant, "Wait, what?" What mistake could Tucker have made?

"Mistakes were made, run!"

Lee saw what Tucker meant because there was suddenly a very large, and very angry, distinctly Chinese ghost in front of her.

Tucker babbled in her ear about ghost static that he had thought was just interference and how he hadn't realized it was mumbled Chinese until the mic went dead (small mercies?). Lee isn't really listening though. She's staring at the ghost who had a manic grin slowly growing on his incorporeal face. Her first instinct, to try to talk to the spirit dies on her tongue. She's looking into the ruby eyes of insanity. What can she say to that?

"A little maid has awoken me from my slumber."

Lee's blood ran cold in her veins. Tucker was right, mistakes were made. This wasn't a curse she should have broken. She shoudn't have touched it. Damn it, she shouldn't have come in with no information and just blundered around.

"LEE RUN!" Tucker's voice howled in her ear and she can hear his frantic typing.

Lee grabbed the iron cross at her hip and pulled it from her belt. She gave a wild, angry swing towards the ghost in a fluid motion. The ghost vanished with a shudder as the iron slid right through it's form. Lee knew better than to assume that was it, or that she had any time at all. Part of her, the part that always panics is screaming at her to run, but Lee knew that she couldn't run. Running would mean letting the ghost run free, and if the massive curse that had been in place was any indicator, this wasn't a ghost she could just leave.

"You don't sound like you're running!"

With the curse removed, the room isn't glowing so glaringly. The sunglasses are more of a hinderance then a help so Lee ripped them off and stuffed them in her shirt.

"Dammit Lee, I should be hearing panting by now!"

She could see the cursed vessel where the ghost came from now. It was still glowing, but faint and fading. Lee desperately hoped that didn't imply she had a time limit.

"I swear I will hack these cameras!"

She ran over to the vase and frantically read the museum description for any information. Of course, it's just nonsense about Chinese shinto spirits, so she moves her focus to the artifact itself.

"Dammit Lee-!"

There was ancient Chinese inscribed on the vase. Why couldn't more supernatural stuff come from Russia? Lee's Russian was near perfect.

"I'm translating ancient Chinese, stuff it!" Lee snapped, a few too many seconds after Tucker swore at her making her distraction all the more obvious.

Lee was in luck, because the inscription appeared to be instructions. She's less lucky in the fact that she can barely comprehend what's written. She was barely through the first line when a cold hand gripped her shoulder and spun her around. Suddenly Lee was eye to eye with the glowing red eyes of the ghost. As Lee began to feel the world fall away, she realized her mistake. She had mistranslated a character. She wasn't supposed to look into his eyes. Knowing that now doesn't help her, because she can't look away.

Everything fell away, like a puzzle plucked away from her piece by piece. Lee rapidly began to forget where she was, who she was, all she knew was the red was sucking her in.

Distantly she heard a voice call out (her own?), "Tucker... mistakes... were made..." then she was plunged into the red.

* * *

Please review, favorite, and follow! Reviews are like the best thing in the world. They beat hamburgers, and hamburgers are the bomb.


	8. Prompt 08

A/N: So we've been going chronologically (ish) so far, but like I said this story is told out of order. So this marks the first place where we start _really_ jumping around on the time line instead of just skipping forward. I'll keep a timeline here for you guys in case you get confused.

Timeline

Prompt 01 - The Box Ghost

Prompt 02 - Danny sees Lee ghost fighting

Prompt 03 - Lee sees Danny 'go ghost'

Prompt 04 - Lee and Danny v. Hook Ghost

 **Prompt 08 - You're here!**

Prompt 05 - Lee and Danny at the Nasty Burger

Prompt 06 - Tucker and Lee go to a museum part 1

Prompt 07 - Tucker and Lee go to a museum part 2

Review Respones

 _ChillyIce_ \- I'm super glad you liked it!

 _blackcat711_ \- Okay, so I'm gonna be completely honest here. Originally there was a joke there about like how bad the museum was. But it didn't really fit the mood, so I took out the punchline and failed to remember to take out the set up. When I run through an edit of that chapter I'll decide whether or not to put the joke back in or just fix it. Thanks for the catch though! And thank you, I'm glad you liked my chapter. It's always difficult to balance how much description to put in. I tend to be a minimalist so I'm glad I'm not underselling or over compensating. ^^

 _AJPJweallluvJJ_ \- That's a lovely suggestion but I've never actually watched _xxxholic_. If you recommend it I'll definitely add it to my list of things to watch, but this story's magic element is more inspired by _Supernatural_ more than anything.

* * *

 **Prompt 08: "We only destroyed the kitchen twice."** (WC: 985)

It was Mr. Lancer's fault that Lee was at the Fenton household. Who assigned partners for class projects anymore? Students knew who they worked well with and who they didn't and if they were the sort of person who picked someone they didn't work well with then they weren't the sort of person who was going to get a good grade anyway. Why was random chance better than choice in determining project partners anyway? And it _had_ to be random chance, because there was no way _anyone_ would think Danny and Lee would a good team. They didn't get along and that was clear to most of the student body, even if they didn't know _why_ the two didn't get along.

Blackmail and secrets weren't friendship material, go figure. Things might have gotten better between them since the lake incident, but it had only happened last weekend. Lee hadn't interacted with Danny enough to know if things were better. To be honest, Lee wasn't sure if she wanted them to get better. I mean, sure she would prefer a neutrality to a cold war but with Danny, she was sure if things got better, it meant that they were taking steps towards friendship - which she could allow.

The plan was to work on the school project in Danny's kitchen (for obvious reasons Lee had _not_ offered up her house). Of course, like all plans of mice and men, it went awry immediately. Lee had hardly stepped through the front door before her eyes were itching and watering in response to the ghostly glow. Danny's breath turning blue for a moment was another confirmation.

Danny swore in frustration. Lee swore in exasperation.

Taking more careful deliberate steps that Lee recognized from the lake adventure, Danny led Lee deeper into his house. She noticed the way the kept himself between her and the perceived danger. Some girls might have been affronted but Lee was totally fine with keeping Danny as a ghostly-meat shield between herself and danger.

Slowly Danny and Lee peered around the corner into the kitchen. Lee wasn't sure how to describe the sight and for a moment she wondered if Paulina had slipped shrooms into her lunch. Because the kitchen looked like something out of an episode of house-flippers and Lee was pretty sure Danny's parents, dressed in neon orange and blue jumpsuits (Lee was beginning to realize they never took them off), were battling off what looked to be a giant, ghostly, cooked turkey that was armed with a carving knife (how was it even holding a knife?!).

"Hi, Danny. Who's your friend?" His dad greeted them causally as if there was nothing wrong with this scene. For all Lee knew there wasn't. She could be tripping or this could just be _normal_ (and she wasn't sure which one she preferred)

The turkey turned towards them. Now Lee was hedging towards prefering hallucinating. She didn't want 'murdered by a cooked turkey' going on her gravestone. The supernatural community would never let her live that down - even in her afterlife.

"Lee..." Danny introduced, backing up and pushing Lee slowly backwards as he did. Lee complied more than willingly.

"Why don't you two go up to your room?" His mother offered, circling around the turkey with a weapon in hand that Lee couldn't get a good look at it. She was just glad the woman seemed to realize that the turkey's attention had been diverted towards the children. Jack Fenton seemed oblivious to the danger the teens were in.

"Sure thing..."

They kept backing up. Then the turkey charged. Danny spun around and dragged Lee up the stairs as his parents fell upon the ghost turkey. He tugged her up the stairs, threw open the door, about flung her inside before running in himself and slamming the door shut, flipping the lock for good measure. Below she could hear his parents war cries of "Fowl Beast" and "Stay away from my children you stuffed, ghostly, monstrosity".

Lee stared at Danny blankly. She didn't even know how to begin to process what had just happened.

"So the project." She began slowly.

Danny blinked owlishly at her and then grinned. He seemed glad to be spared the explanation that yes, his parents were always like that; and yes, that sort of thing was actually possible; and no, that wasn't the first time a ghost cooked turkey had attacked.

He sat down on his bed next to Lee and they got to work.

Lee ended up staying for dinner. Not willingly. The project had taken longer then they expected and when Danny's mother had walked in telling them it was time for dinner, she wouldn't hear of Lee leaving.

So now Lee was situated in one of the chairs that had taken a few blows with a carving knife at the Fenton family table. She was sitting next to Jazz and Maddie Fenton, directly across from Danny.

They weren't having turkey for dinner, which was a huge relief. Lee wasn't sure she'd ever be able to eat turkey again after seeing that (Thanksgiving was officially ruined). Jazz, Danny's older sister, was going off on her parents in a way that Lee honestly envied. She wished she could be so open with her distaste towards her own father.

"I can't believe you destroyed the kitchen again!"

"Now Jazz, we only destroyed the kitchen twice, that's not fair."

"No, you only unleashed a killer turkey twice. You've destroyed the kitchen countless times."

Danny caught Lee staring at his sister in awe.

"Why are you staring at Jazz like that?" He asked her quietly while his sister argued with and lectured at his parents.

"Your sister is amazing." Lee breathed.

Danny looked shocked and mildly horrified. Jazz preened.

"See, Anne Lee can appreciate common sense and decency!"

Lee flinched at the use of her full name, only Danny noticed.

* * *

A/N: Alternate title - In which Lee is subjected to Fenton weirdness and takes it in stride.

"Have you fed your fan fiction writers with reviews today?"


	9. Prompt 09

A/N: I believe _blackcat711_ suggested a moment like this all the way back in chapter 3. Hopefully it lives up to expectations. And hooooly shit this got unexpectedly long.

Timeline

Prompt 01 - The Box Ghost

 **Prompt 09 - You're here!**

Prompt 02 - Danny sees Lee ghost fighting

Prompt 03 - Lee sees Danny 'go ghost'

Prompt 04 - Lee and Danny v. Hook Ghost

Prompt 08 - The Turkey Incident

Prompt 05 - Lee and Danny at the Nasty Burger

Prompt 06 - Tucker and Lee go to a museum part 1

Prompt 07 - Tucker and Lee go to a museum part 2

Review Responses

 _AJP_ _weallluvJJ_ \- Well, I'll definitely add that to my 'list of things to watch'. It sounds interesting and something right up my alley.

 _Coraluna_ \- Ahaha, cheesy puns are the best. Thank you so much for your compliments! I have some experience writing prompts as this is the second story I've done that relies on them so this isn't some amazing first attempt. They can be difficult because you have a small amount of words to tell a story that feels completely self contained but also connects to everything else that's going on. The only bit of advice that I can give you is it flows better if you limited the number scenes. Three seems to be the happy medium. If you want to use prompts though, don't give up! It just takes some getting used to and a lot of practice - but so does everything.

 _blackcat711_ \- I'll definitely be checking that anime out. Hahaha, yeah the Supernatural themes weren't exactly well hidden but I _really_ like that show, so what can you expect? xD Did you know, you have a knack for calling things that are going to happen in the future? ;)

* * *

 **Prompt 09: "I don't think this has any relevance to our missing chicken problem."** (WC: 2692)

Lee hated living on the outskirts of town. Not only was going to school a chore and a half - and that was just on the days that her dad actually remembered he had daughter to take to school (when he forgot it was even more trouble). But it meant that if something went wrong in the neighborhood, she was the one who dealt with it.

All her neighbors were elderly folk, people who had lived in the area before Amity Park had turned into a (more) legitimate city. Lee and her father were the youngest in the neighborhood. The community had a 'everyone helps everyone' mentality (something neither Lee or her father shared) and they really were so out in the sticks that calling anyone in for something that needed to be dealt with in a timely fashion really wasn't realistic. So, it wasn't uncommon for the neighbors to come over looking for young help. Lee's father was always unavailable, but Lee - despite the fact that she did not categorize herself as helpful or friendly - found she had a hard time saying 'no' to old people.

So when Mrs. Vasser knocked on her front door to ask for help with her with her missing chicken problem, she didn't even bother to ask for Lee's dad, she just asked for Lee. In hindsight, if Lee had known she was going to turn herself into everyone's go-to girl, she would have feigned incompetence. Still, it wasn't usually troublesome issues. Of course, this time it was roughly counting, _three_ troublesome issues.

Because the problem wasn't as simple as fox. _That_ would have been the normal, rational explanation, so being Amity Park of course that wasn't the actual explanation. No matter how hard Lee looked, no hole in the fence materialized. There was no way for a fox, as far as Lee could tell, to have gotten in. What was worse, was instead of finding a hole, Lee found the scent of sulfur. Evidence of a haunting.

Lee soaked the whole situation in. There was a ghost who was stealing chickens. This was her life now.

From there, if possible, things got even weirder. The traces of a haunting that Lee found had not been for _one_ ghost, but for _two_. Because when Lee came into Mrs. Vasser that night to try to confront the chicken stealing ghost she found the ghost of Mrs. Vasser's husband standing outside the chicken coop like a soldier on guard duty.

That mental image repeated its self in her head. The ghost of Mrs. Vasser's husband was guarding his wife's chickens from a chicken stealing ghost. How was this her life? How was this _anyone's_ life?

Trying to take the situation in stride, Lee plopped herself down on the other side of the doorway, "You know you probably should move on." She told him, "If you hang around for too long you'll start to lose parts of yourself. You might become dangerous to Mrs. Vasser."

The elderly ghost nodded, "I know," he told her sadly, "I just wanted to make sure Tina was alright before I left."

"Once this chicken problem is solved?" Lee asked, trying to get him to commit to a time limit.

"Once this chicken problem is dealt with."

So, like something out of a terrible young adult novel, Lee was hunting a ghost with the help of another ghost. If this was a young adult novel though, Mr. Vasser would have younger, maybe still married - to add to the angsty forbidden love angle, because being dead wasn't enough - and Lee would have been much prettier.

Of course, Mr. Vasser wasn't as well versed in ghost hunting as Lee was. He managed to fumble the confrontation with the chicken stealing ghost (she mentally dubbed him the Chicken Ghost in honor of the Box Ghost) so badly that the ghost slipped away with a chicken and managed to nearly crush Lee to death with gardening supplies. Lee still wasn't sure if Mr. Vasser had accidentally caused the landslide of gardening supplies or if that had been the Chicken Ghost.

And because her life wasn't enough of a mixture of weirdness and embarrassment the local ghost fighting hero (a ghost himself) had to show up. Lee was aware that he did patrols, even coming so far as her distant neighborhood, but really what were the chances of him doing patrols on this night at this exact moment? (very slim actually; Lee was good at probability)

The ghost kid, of course, flew down to see what they were doing. A ghost and a human girl interacting was probably a strange sight, and it probably looked like Mr. Vasser was trying to kill her via gardening equipment rather than him bumbling to help her up. Acknowledging the fact that ever attempt Mr. Vasser made to help actually made things worse, Lee wasn't sure if he wasn't trying to kill her and covering it up with his nice guy act.

"Miss, are you alright?" The ghost boy asked, stumbling over the 'Miss'. Lee knew it was dark but her long hair ought to be a give away to her gender, even if her figure didn't exactly scream 'I am woman'.

"We're fine." She told him dismissively, finally managing to get to her feet.

She wanted the complication that the ghost boy was out of her life. She wanted to get to bed at reasonable hour, and that wasn't going to happen if the ghostly teen involved himself in the already rapidly spiraling out of control Chicken Ghost fiasco.

The ghost boy looked between Mr. Vasser's ghost and Lee, confused and vaguely concerned.

"You realize he's a ghost right?"

"So are you. Should I run screaming from you as well?"

"No!" Danny spluttered, "I'm here to help." He recovered himself enough to try to sound vaguely heroic. The attempt failed.

Lee rolled her eyes. He was here more to be in her way then to help.

"Listen, Mr. Vasser is moving on as soon as we're finished." She explained, pausing for Mr. Vasser to nod along to confirm, "So this chat has been nice and all, and you're concern for a total stranger is touching but I don't think this has any relevance to our missing chicken problem, so see ya."

And with that, Lee and Mr. Vasser's ghost headed off, or tried to. It was hard to leave a conversation when the other person kept _following_ you. Lee completely missed the ghost boy's confusion over the idea of 'moving on'.

"Missing chicken problem?"

"Look, it's a long story, but trust me, I got this."

"...Do you do this often?"

"You know I never considered a career in locating missing chickens before. Do you suppose the job market is good in that field?"

Mr. Vasser was too focused on 'the mission' to laugh and the ghost kid was just shooting her irritated looks. Tough crowd.

"Dealing with ghosts is dangerous you know." The teen said in a lecturing tone that had Lee rolling her eyes. _She_ didn't have the equivalent of super powers. Lee was pretty sure she knew more about how dangerous ghosts were then this kid.

"Yeah, thanks for the PSA. Now fly off, Ghost Kiddie, I really don't want you mucking up this situation. I have a test in the morning."

"...So do I, but I'm not going to leave you in a dangerous situation - Wait, 'Ghost Kiddie'?!"

"Yeah, yeah whatever you say. Just be quiet and stand there and look... pretty or something." Lee said dismissively as they stumbled into what was clearly a ghost den, with a few chicken corpses scattered around along with living chicken pecking.

Lee's eyes rolled to the sky. Disgusting and weird, a perfect summary of her life.

"G-gah! Who are you?" The Chicken Ghost exclaimed before immediately catching himself and trying to recover his first impression, "I mean! I am the Grand Sorcerer Ghost, Abel and begone human and lower ghostly creatures or I shall unleash my army of poultry upon thee!" In case it wasn't clear, he failed.

Lee raised an eyebrow. The Ghost kid raised a glowing green hand, Lee stopped him with one hand. That speech was only slightly better than the Box Ghost's old speeches, and the fact the Chicken ghost was a nerdy teen further lowered her opinion of the ghost. Yeah, Lee was pretty sure she could handle this situation and handle it in the way she _preferred_ to handle these situations.

"You snot nosed brat, those are my wife's prized winning chickens!" Mr. Vasser leapt at the ghostly kid and proceeded to start to beat the kid's head in. He was already dead though, so Lee knew he could handle more punishment. She hadn't been planning on the good cop/bad cop routine but sure, she could make it work.

After Mr. Vasser had gotten a few good licks in, and the Chicken Ghost (yeah, Lee wasn't _about_ to call him the 'Grand Sorcerer Ghost, Abel') started begging for mercy, Lee smoothly stepped in.

"Alright, alright, stop the cock fighting."

Mr. Vasser and Danny stared at her like she had just snapped a chicken's neck instead of making a joke. The Chicken Ghost, on the other hand, started laughing. Lee grinned, finally a ghost with a sense of humor!

"So, nice to meet ya, Abel. I'm Lee, and this is Mr. Vasser and the ghost brat." The ghost kid frowned at her introduction of him. Well, no one said Lee had to be happy about him tagging along.

"What was this about a chicken army?" Lee asked, looking around at the few rotting chickens and few living chickens (that seemed more interested in keeping away from the intruders then fighting them off for their 'master').

"Everyone always laughed at my interest in the dark arts." Abel spat, "I myself even began to doubt its existence, but when I died and took this new form, I realized that the dark arts really do exist! I'll show those kids who mocked and tormented me. Show them! I shall rain an army of poultry ghosts down upon them until they beg for mercy!"

Lee blinked, "But why chickens...?"

"Those beady little eyes and those sharp beaks, of _course_ chickens!"

A kid with a phobia who didn't know that he had a phobia. Figures. Better then death by chickens though. Being crushed to death was one thing but even in death, Lee was pretty sure no one could live down death by chickens.

Lee stared, "Yeah... of course..." Not sounding all that convincing but hey, agreeing that an army of chickens is terrifying was a hard act to sell. She sold it better than the ghost kid who snorted a laugh

"When did you die?" She asked, hoping to distract Abel from the ghost kid's obvious score and so safe them from another chicken tirade.

"Um, 1954 I think."

"Welcome to the new millennium." The ghost kid said unhelpfully. Lee cast him a look. She was going to beat the shit out of him, intangibility or not.

"What?! So much time has passed?" Abel stuttered, "But they'll all be gone now! Moved, vanished like smoke! How will I take my revenge now?"

The ghost kid's blind heroism was getting in the way, _again_ , "You're not taking revenge on an-" He began to bluster.

"Stuff it, tie-dye." Lee said shutting him down immediately before he made things worse.

This was already a situation. The kid clearly wanted revenge and there was no way to simulate the revenge given the fact that everyone was scattered to the wind or just dead. Furthermore, Able had been in the world for too long for this to be a simple getting him to move on challenge. It was still _possible_ , but without some amazingly convenient circumstances, Lee wasn't sure how to swing it.

"So you've always been interested in the occult?" She tried again, asking him in a conversational tone.

Abel nodded his head, apparently he was easily distracted, "Yes, I knew it was my calling."

Lee doubted that given the fact he hadn't been able to animate ghost corpses in all the time he had been dead. Sure it wasn't an easy task but being dead gave him both the advantage of time _and_ power.

"Nothing has every sparked my interest before. It brought new color to my life. Mostly blacks and purples, but still!"

Lee really could use a pain killer. God save her from theatrical ghosts.

"Well, you're a ghost now. Far above us regular mortals, right?"

The ghost kid bristled beside her. Lee wasn't sure if that was because he didn't know where she was going with her line of questions or if he just disagreed. Lee didn't know _why_ he would disagree. He was a ghost after all and ghosts were honestly and objectively stronger than humans in most respects.

"Haha! Of course, you could only _dream_ of the powers I possess!"

"So why waste your time revenging yourself on people beneath you?"

Abel paused mulling over her words, "I suppose... you do have a point."

"Yeah, you've wasted all this time trying to devise a revenge when you could be enjoying be a ghost."

"That's true..."

"So let's stop all this dark sorcerer stuff. And why don't you tell me how cool it is to be a ghost?"

And he did. By the end of it, Abel apologized for stealing Mrs. Vasser's chickens and even promised to keep an eye on her until he was ready to move on - Lee was very pleased that Mr. Vasser had been able to get that on the table. Being old was an advantage, kids tended to listen to them better than they did to a teenage girl. Lee made vague promises to keep an eye on him (which she fully intended to do since he was sticking around) and planned to introduce him to the Box Ghost at the next opportunity (maybe they go start something like AAA, but for ghosts with obsessive compulsion disorder).

With Abel off to return Mrs. Vasser's living chickens and Mr. Vasser off in the after life, Lee was left with the Ghost Kid who had been just staring at her all evening.

"You're kind of being creepy." Lee pointed out.

"Oh uh, yeah. Sorry. I mean. I mean I just haven't seen anyone do that before." The Ghost Kid said stumbling comically over his words, "You just talked the whole situation out."

"Well yeah, if it came to a fight, I'd lose." Lee laughed, gesturing down to her short not very muscular and obviously living body, "Besides, this worked out better than violence. Mr. Vasser moved on. Abel's no longer failing to animate dead chickens and has started to at least think about moving on."

"I didn't know ghosts _could_ move on."

Lee blinked twice. "...But you're a ghost?"

The Ghost Kid didn't reply and Lee didn't know what to make of that.

"Well... if you don't know... They can, and do. The ghosts that hang around tend to go a little crazy." She said, hinting.

"That I believe."

The ghost kid missed her hint but Lee smiled regardless at their shared experience.

"Sometimes they're beyond help. Sometimes you can bring them back if you try hard enough. Sometimes it's as easy as pointing out their dead." Lee shrugged. "I've heard rumors about a Ghost Zone where ghosts live if they aren't stuck on the mortal plane. No idea about any of that though."

"You do this a lot?"

"I live in Amity Park." Lee demurred, taking the opening that he didn't know that she was a new kid.

"Right, so I'll see you home."

"Thanks but no thanks. I try to avoid having ghosts know where I live."

And Lee left him and the Ghost Kid didn't try to follow.

* * *

A/N: Live long and prosper my continuous reviewers, occasional reviews, one-time reviewers, and my lurkers and followers!


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